In a known process for forming nickel (Ni) molds, a polymeric resist/resin is first spin-coated and patterned with the desired features on a substrate for forming the mold. Next, a metal film is deposited on the resist, which behaves as a conductive seed layer for further growth of a Ni layer onto the resist by electroplating. The plated Ni metal sheet is then separated from the resist, which forms the Ni mold. The surface of the Ni mold often contains polymeric residues, which are difficult to remove. Removal of such residues, such as by using a chemical solution that attacks the residues, may not remove the resist residues completely and can also reduce the surface quality of the mold as, for example, many removal agents also chemically attack Ni. It becomes more challenging to overcome these problems when epoxy-based resists such as SU-8 are used or when UV curable resins are used. In both cases, the resist or resin material adheres to the mold surface strongly, and when the mold has nano-scale features or patterns with high resolution, high density and high-aspect ratios, it may be difficult or impossible to remove it completely from the mold surface.